Thursday, February 21, 2019
Scientific Method and Criminal Investigator
Methods Used as a Criminal Investigator Cynthia Scaff Kaplan University CJ210 abhorrence Scene Investigation Professor Post March 26th, 2013 Unit-5 Methods Used as a Criminal Investigator Throughout its history, criminal investigation has been construct upon a methodological foundation that has become increasingly refined and dependent on science. Moreover, a good investigator often adopts a feature lookout when approaching criminal investigations. Among the most effective approaches to investigation involves the commit of the scientific method, which is simply a cadence-tested means of company safe facts.Gathering information is the key to all good investigations, and so chthonicstanding the third sources of information is of great concern to any investigator. All of these items add up to a hearty-rounded and thorough investigation, and thus they will all be addressed herein. First, an exposition on the methods of interrogatory be in order. The deuce overarching meth ods of inquiry are 1) those that reconstruct and examine past events and 2) those that discover or generate new information (Osterburg & Ward, 2010). These two are actually interrelated, and in that location is a good deal of overlap between them.Any number of disciplines in both the grave and soft sciences can be employed in the service of an investigation, including those, which would non necessarily describem related to a practice of law investigation, like entomology, meteorology, etc. Thus, understanding the behavior of insects that inhabit a dust or the effects of weather on a body power propose crucial details closely the precise date and time of a transfer, for eccentric. In fact, a wide array of disciplines is often utilize to a complex investigation when used in conjunction, can support a great deal of information about a case.As well as utilizing the methods of inquiry, the best criminal detectives likewise generally approach a case with a single outicular mindset. In essence, the investigative mindset is part schema (innate perspective based on a broad make doledge of the world) and part active thought process. What it amounts to is an string out-mindedness and (preferably unbiased) skepticism that allows the investigator to remain open to anything unusual in a case or anything that leads to a break away understanding of the facts and circumstancesevidencerelated to or surrounding a case (Osterburg & Ward, 2010).The investigator with this mindset will therefore approach a case looking for evidence that seems contrary to how things should be according to his or her knowledge about the world and understanding of how things generally go under normal circumstances. She is also looking for information that fits what is already known about the case, but the investigator must be careful here not to come at it with preconceived notions about the guilt or ingenuousness of anyone directly touch in or a tangential to the case.For the gathe ring of evidence, the best approach is usually the covering of the scientific method, defined as such a method of investigation in which a caper is first identified and observations, experiments, or other relevant data are then used to construct or test hypotheses that purport to crystallise it (Scientific method, 2009). The problem to be identified in this case is the investigators hypothesis about what took place at the horror scene and who was involved in it. Ergo, a good investigator moves from inductive reasoningguesswork, hunches, suspicions, etc. toward deductive reasoning, which is the use of specific data applied to the situation to see if everything fits with what she believes to obtain happened. In Osterburg and Wards Criminal Investigation, the authors give an example in which a woman was murdered in her apartment in conjunction with a romantic dinner. Going on a hunch, the investigator suspects an ex-boyfriend to be the culprit. He then gathers data to see if his suspicions are strengthen by the facts available to him (Osterburg & Ward, 2010).There are three sources of evidence that an investigator whitethorn draw from. The first of these is multitude. The relevant sources here are all of the people directly connected to a case (witnesses, suspects and of course surviving victims) and friends, relatives and mixed associates of suspects and victims (Osterburg & Ward, 2010). Although people can be open and helpful in a case, some of them may lie distort facts or even disclaim to cooperate altogether, creating a conflict for the investigator.Witnesses may also be impoverished about what they actually observed as memory is not forever reliable and can even be biased by personal, pro or societal schemas. Learning how to get people to cooperate with police force and sorting out lies, half-truths, mistakes or previously overlooked information is necessary to criminal investigation. Ongoing surveillance of the people involved may also shed l ight on a case. The second source for investigators to conduct is somatogenic evidence.In police work, the two main disciplines employed in the testing of this data are forensic medicine and criminalistics. The condition, location and position of man remains materials and fibers located at the crime scene the trajectory of bullets and the geek of bullets used the pattern or spatter of demarcation impressions made by fingerprints, shoes or tires the presence of contraband (such as illegal drugs or drug paraphernalia or illegal weapons)these are all types of physiological evidence that might be used to reconstruct a crime or other past event (Osterburg & Ward, 2010).In considering this evidence, the investigator will rent herself questions related to the crime, such as What is this item doing here? Why is the blood pattern directed this way? Does this evidence support or vary my hypothesis about a suspect? And so on. Finally, records and documents are a prime source of eviden ce for most investigations. Although technically records are physical evidence, they are a special form of physical evidence, in that they are in widespread use and are used, stored and accessed both privately and professionally specifically for their informational value.It is no wonder then that they often contain or form important, highly specific evidence for an investigator. Documents such as a drivers license, social security card or land ID card will help the police identify an unknown murder victim, for example. Criminal records of a murder victim may also provide clues about the nature of his murder, such as whether or not he was involved in the illegal drug trade, which may lead to a suspect. Phone records may even indicate that two people have been in contact when one or both have denied that they know each other (Osterburg & Ward, 2010).Records may be stored as a rocky copy on paper, plastic or some other medium, or they may be stored digitally, as on a computer hard dr ive or CD. In the end, it is apparent that science and a scientific perspective are highly important to police investigations. The two methods of inquiry provide a basis for understand what happened and how it happened. Encountering an investigation with the proper mindset will offer a higher success rate. In addition, of course, the application of the scientific method is indispensable, as is understanding and exploiting the three sources of evidence.With a steadfast foundation in these principles, a criminal investigator is well on her way towards making headway in an investigation. References Osterburg,J. W. , & Ward,R. H. (2010). Criminal investigation A method for reconstructing the past. Albany, NY LexisNexis/Anderson Pub Scientific method. (2009). Collins English Dictionary actualize & Unabridged 10th Edition. Retrieved March 29, 2013, from Dictionary. com website http//dictionary. reference. com/browse/scientific method
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